Utawarerumono: Tales of War, Songs of Hope
by Stanislas
Summary: Two men wake up injured in a mountain village. One has no memories, and is stuck with a strange mask on his face. The other one, a travelling bard, has no trouble remembering a past he'd rather forget. Together, they shall face challenges no one would want to in order to protect the people they hold dear. AU novelization of the first Utawarerumono story. OCs, with one major. R & R.


**Sup, readers! I've been riding the groovin' hype wave from the new Utawarerumono game/anime, these past few months, as I'm a big fan of the first game/anime. And I've decided to contribute to the series' under populated fanfiction section!**

 **This story will be an AU of the first Utawarerumono story. The setting is going to be larger, taking place not on just one Japan-sized Island, but on several. The setting will still be a post apocalyptic earth, tough. How did the Japanese archipelago get bigger? Well, I can imagine that an event that would cause Earth's** _ **FRIGIN POLES**_ **to shift could cause some major high class tectonic activity, eh? Why am I making it bigger? Because I can, because I feel like it, and because I want to involve the sea more into this tale.**

 **The will also be several new characters joining the rest of the cast, with one major, who's kind of a mix of Arawn, Taliesin, Arthur and Hamil from the Tears to Tiara series. As for what's in the story, this will blend elements from both the anime and the games, and will follow the general direction of the Utawarerumono story-line closely, including the end-game, so I guess you could call this a novelization but with added material. Once this story is done, I may very well do the same with Itsuwari No Kamen, building upon the differences present in this tale.**

 **I highly encourage my readers to provide feedback, so if you have anything to contribute that you think would improve this story, please let me know, be it through a review or a PM. That can be anything ranging from grammar, story structure, dialogue, characterization, worldbuilding or anything you can think of. I'll make sure to give credit where credit is due, too.**

 **Dialogue note: I will be using Japanese honorifics in dialogue, as by experience, english translations of many such terms tend to feel out of place. Also, the dialogue from canon characters is going to be a mix coming from both the anime and the game, with some modification added by me. So if you read this having only watched the anime, and a line of dialogue doesn't ring a bell, it's probable that it came from the Visual Novel.**

 **Disclaimer for the whole story: Utawarerumono, in all its media forms, does not belong to me, it belong to whoever holds the copyrights. I claim no ownership of their material, and this story is written with the sole goal of entertaining.**

* * *

 **Utawarerumono: Tales of War, Songs of Hope**

Chapter 1: The Uninvited Ones: Part 1

It was the dead of night. In a forest just inside the northern borders of the country of Kenashikourupe, all was still, except for a shadowy figure that was moving at breakneck speeds. The skies were clear, and the moon was half full, but with the trees overhead, very little light reached the forest floor. Once in a while tough, the figure passed underneath an opening in the branch ceiling, and moonlight shone on it for just a moment, revealing the figure to be made of three people, with one of them, a tall, athletic figure, carrying the other two: One, of average height and of light build, was holding onto her back, and the other one was being carried bridal-style by the running person despite being of even taller and of broader build than her.

"Kino*-san," The lithe person said in a concerned tone with a soft, girly voice, "You've been going like this for over an hour. Are you okay?"

"I'm okay, Nao." The person called Kino said quickly in a female voice that sounded slightly raspy, "Don't worry about me. You're still sure we're going in the right direction?"

"Yes, the compass is still showing that we're going in the correct direction to get to Tuskuru san's village."

"Kaa…san." The carried person mumbled in a weak male voice.

"You're not going to meet your mother, you big long-haired idiot!" Kino said, picking up the pace and going even faster, "Not yet!"

* * *

Tatsuo** had been here before. Many times.

He was kneeling in a burning room, being hugged by his mother, who was holding his crying infant sister in her arms. Beside them, his older brother stood. The woman and the two boys all were staring at the same thing with tears in their eyes.

They were staring at Tetsuo's father. The large dark haired man, his hair undone and in a mess, was leaning against his sword stuck in the floor and breathing heavily. With half a dozen arrows sticking in his back.

"Otosan!" His brother cried out, followed by his mother's "Anata!"

"Akane…" His father said with his head still down. He spat some blood, "What the hell are you still doing here?!" He raised his head, "GO!" He roared, "GET THEM OUT OF HERE!"

Tatsuo heard the sound of hurried footsteps somewhere behind their father, and someone said "They're over here, this way!"

His father stood up slowly, shaking, "NOW, AKANE! SADAO!"

His mother rose up as if on auto-pilot and, with both of her children in her arm, turned around and ran into the passage they had been kneeling in front of. The last he saw of his father, as he looked over his running mother's shoulder, was the man's arrow stricken back as he walked in the opposite direction. He heard him yell "COME AT ME, YOU TRAITOROUS SONS ON WHORES!", followed by someone screaming in pain. After that, all noises were drowned by deafening sounds from the collapse of the burning building.

* * *

That's when Tatsuo woke up with a start, as he usually did, except that this time, he had a headache sent straight from hell.

He was lying in a bed in a dark room, with a bit of light filtering through the cloth curtain of a window nearby. His whole body ached.

"What… in the world***?" He said out loud. He felt as if he'd been dropped off a cliff…

Which, he now remembered, was exactly what happened…

"God damn…. monkey woman..." He said, "Looks like …I managed to cheat death … yet another time."

"Tatsuo-nii-sama, you're finally awake." A girl's voice said from behind him. "Thank goodness, I was really beginning to worry. You've been out of it for almost four days. You hit your head pretty badly, among other things."

"Ah, Naomi****," Tatsuo said as the lithe girl kneeled down beside him, "Good to see …that you're safe." He said, despite not behind able to see her clearly in the gloom, "At least… the she-hulk only dropped one of us. Where is she? No, don't answer that." He added quickly, "Tell me where we are, rather?"

"We're in Tuskuruu-san's village." She said, "You know, the healer who saved me when I was little? Now she's saved you. And about Kino-san, she's the one who got you here and paid-!"

She was cut off by the sounds of a commotion in the other room, and a girl's voice unknown to Tatsuo said "Obaa-chan, come quick! It's an emergency!"

"Um," Naomi said, "I'll just go check what is going on. I shan't be long. Just relax, and don't move too much."

" _Move?"_ He tough as he looked himself over as best he could _"Would that I could! Seriously, just how many bones did I break anyway?"_

He closed his eyes. _"Ah, whatever. It's too troublesome to worry about right now. I think I'll just go back to sleep."_ As he started to fall asleep, one last tough occurred to him, _"That monkey-from-hell better not have broken my flute!"_

* * *

The man felt like he was burning, like the world around him was afire.

" _ **My throat… it's… burning!"**_ He says, his voice sounding to him like it was coming from a deep hole underground, _**"Water …please..someome…water!"**_

He felt someone lifting his head, and something touching his lips, followed by the cool flow of water into his mouth.

" _ **Thank… you."**_

"It's alright." A young girl's voice said in a soothing tone, "Now, just relax and sleep."

" _ **Who… who are… you?"**_ He asked, but his mind drifed into unconsciousness before he could hear an answer.

* * *

After an unknown amount of time, the man regained consciousness, this time slowly opening his eyes to gaze straight up at the wooden rafters of a building.

" _Where am I?"_ He asked himself

He was laying face up on some sort of bedding, and his whole body was aching. It was quite dark, but at the right periphery of his vision, he could just make out a source of light, and turned his head towards it. He saw that the light came from a small lantern sitting on the floor, and that next to it a girl was kneeling.

She was positioned sideways to him, her front towards his feet, and she appeared to be working some sort of grinding instrument on which she was entirely focused. She had black hair which was long in the back, which was tied into a ponytail at the level of her shoulder blades and which reached well below her waist. In the front, her bangs were cut irregularly, and the left side of her face was framed by a bundle of hair about an inch wide, which reached the top of her chest and held a white ring in its folded tip with the aid of a blue and white tube. She wore a white robe with red trims, and as a belt had a blue sash tied in the back. He outfit was completed by a blue and white piece of cloth that she wore around her neck like a collar.

She also had furry white dog-like ears and tail with light brown tips.

The man tried to sit up, and half-succeeded before a huge jolt of pain shot through his body.

"Ughhh." He let out.

The movement, along with the grunt, caught the kneeling girl's attention, and she turned her head to face him and moved towards him, putting her hand on his chest, concern evident in her brown eyes.

"You mustn't move around just yet," she said while pushing him down gently, "You've been badly wounded, and you're not fully healed."

"Where am I?" The man asked, "Who are you?"

"My name is Eruruu." The girl said.

"Eruruu?"

Eruruu nodded "And this is my home," she continued, looking around the room.

"What… happened to me?" the man asked.

"Well," Eruruu said, "I found you unconscious in the forest. You had really severe injuries."

"Injuries?"

Eruruu nodded again, "You've been unconscious for three days, and for most of it, it looked as if you wouldn't make it. Ha, but you should be fine now. Obaa-chan says that you're over the worst of it."

"You're the one … who saved me? Thank you. "

Eruruu blushed, "Obaa-chan is the one who did most of the work, and I only helped her out."

"All the same… I'm truly grateful."

An awkward silence set in for a moment before Eruruu spoke up again, "Ah! I still don't know your name. How are you called?"

"My name?" The man said.

"Yes."

"I am…" The man said, "I am… I am…."

"Hun?" Eruruu tilted her head.

" I… I don't know…I have no idea what my name is… who I am…." The man went on, "I don't know what happened or why I'm here!"

"Oh." An elderly voice said from the other side of the room, "He seems to have awoken. Are his wounds fine already?"

"Obaa-chan!" Eruruu cried out, "It's terrible!"

After Eruruu told her what she had just learned about the man, the grandmother, who had white medium length hair and was dressed in blue and red robes with a brown shawl on her shoulder, nodded slowly, "I see, his memory…."

"Maybe it was the pain-relieving herbs?" Eruruu suggested.

"They may make the brain hazy, but I don't believe they can cause memory loss." Grandmother said.

"Is there anything you can do?" Eruruu asked.

"Unfortunately, there's no medicine I know of that can help regain memories. All he can do is wait."

"I… I am confused." The man said.

Eruruu had an uncomfortable look on her face.

"We shouldn't be pessimistic." The grandmother said to Eruruu, "He'll remember sooner or later. Since you don't remember anything," She then said to the man, "you have nothing to do and nowhere to go. You should concentrate on resting up to heal yourself, we can deal with everything else afterwards. See you in the morning. The pain medicine will have worn off by then, so you should expect quite a rough awakening. Hahaha~"

"Obaa-Chan!" Eruruu chided her grandmother.

"I'll leave him to you, Eruruu," The grandmother said, "I'll go check on out other patient before turning in."

"Okay." Eruruu said as her grandmother left the room, and then turned back towards the nameless man, "I'm going to clean your wounds and change your compress, so I'm going to sit you up." She told him, and did so with great care. After he was bandaged up again, she took out a piece of dry cloth. "I think I should wipe off your sweat. " She did so, and wiped off his front and back upper body with the cloth. "I think I should also do your face," She said after she was done, "Can you please remove your mask?"

"My… my mask?"

"Yes, your mask." Eruruu nodded, "I tried removing it while I was treating you, but I couldn't get it off. It was attached too tightly."

"I'm…wearing a mask?"

The man brought a hand to his face, and felt something solid covering its upper portion.

"Um, here." Eruruu said, picking up mirror of polished bronze that stood against the wall and holding it for him to look into. It was like looking at a stranger's face, even his reflection was new to him.

He had dark blue hair, cut just above the shoulders, and royal blue eyes. And, like Eruruu has said, he was indeed wearing a mask, an ivory white one that covered the all of his upper face from mid-cheek to the top of his hair-line. From the top of the mask protruded two horn like appendages, and between these two was engraved a symbol made of what looked like a reversed T framed by two line parallel to the branch of the T.

" _What is this?"_ The man thought, _"why do I have this on my face?_

He grabbed the sides of the mask, and pulled. _"Gah, it won't…come of…."_

"Gah!?" As he continued to pull, pain shot through his head. "My head…It's splitting!" He said.

"What, what's wrong?" Eruruu asked.

"N-nothing…I'm fine…." He said, then tough _"What was that headache? I can't seem to take this off! Let's try again, a little more… gently, this time."_

He tried again, slowly increasing the amount of force he used, but it led to the same result.

"Aah!" he let out, _"It's useless. Each time I force on it, I get a horrible, splitting headache!"_

"Um, are you okay?" Eruruu asked.

"Y-yeah… I'm fine." He said.

"So, you can't… remove it?"

"It seems it can't be removed forcibly." He admitted.

"Then… you'll always be like this?"

"Unless I find another way to remove it, it seems so." He said, and he really didn't like the prospect.

Eruruu sighed, "Well, you can rest and relax for now," She said, tucking the man in after he laid back down on the bed, "I'll come by in the morning with some food that's easy to digest. Until then, good night."

"…. Good...night…" The man said as he fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

In the morning, the man was brought awake by a huge jolt of pain shooting through his body.

"Gah!?" He said.

" _My body….pain-!"_ He tough, and then remembered the old woman's words from last night, _" 'The pain medicine will have worn off by then, so you should expect quite a rough awakening'! So this is what she meant! "_

He managed to sit up despite the pain, and reached up to his face. The mask was still there, of course. He tried again to remove it, but it still wouldn't budge. So, stuck with the gaudy mask he was.

The cloth that served as the room's door was pulled aside by Eruruu, who entered the room with a wooden bowl in her hand, out of which steam rose up.

"Ah, so you're awake," She said, kneeling down next to him. "Did you remember anything?"

The man shook his head. "Not a thing." He said.

"I see." Eruruu said, "Well, I made you some mororo porridge, since you're probably hungry after not eating anything for all that time, and in any case, you need to get nutrition in you."

"Oh, right," The man said with a smile, "Yes, now that you mention it, I'm hungry. Thank you."

"You're welcome," Eruruu said, "Tough, this is probably still too hot to eat right now." She stirred the contents of the bowl with the wooden spoon, "Wait just a moment." She took out a spoonful of the bowl's contents, and began to blow on it gently to cool it down.

As she did so, the man became aware that he was being watched, and turned around towards the door. Just as he did so, the head of a young girl with medium length hair and eyes the same color as Eruruu's disappeared behind the cloth.

* * *

After eating, and succeeding in getting up despite Eruruu's insistence that he could rest, the man said that he wished to walk around the village, and idea approved by Eruruu's grandmother.

"If you think you can handle it, it should be good for you." The old woman said as Eruruu helped him dress in clothes more fitting than what he had been sleeping in, "To think that when we brought you in, I tough you were beyond help, but it seems that you're pretty stubborn."

"Obaa-chan!" Eruruu chided.

"So, have you remembered anything yet?" the old woman went on.

The man silently shook his head.

"I see." The old woman said, "In that case, I'll give you a name."

"A name?" the man said.

"Of course," the old woman said, "Not having one is very inconvenient. So, let's see…. I think Hakuoro should do it."

"Wha-?" Eruruu let out.

Ignoring this, her grandmother continued, "Yes, until you recover your memory, you shall be called Hakuoro."

"I'm… Hakuoro.." The newly christened Hakuoro said, then he turned around towards Eruruu, who was staring at him with her mouth slightly open, "Eruruu?"

'Ha, er, it looks like the clothes suit you quite well!"

"Aye, it seems my son's old clothes fit you perfectly." The old woman nodded.

He was now dressed in a pair of dark blue pants, with a long white robe that had thick black and slim gold trims over this, and which was held closed with a black cloth sash. This was all toped of with a blue vest with tick black trims.

"Thank you for lending me these clothes, Eruruu, and you, Obaa-"

"I'm Tuskuruu." The old woman said.

"Huh?"

"You can call me Tuskuruu." Tuskuruu said once more.

"Ha, Tuskuruu-san?"

Tuskuru nodded, "I guess you're ready to set out, huh?" She turned to her grand-daughter "Eruruu, you should go along with him. We can't have him collapse again while he's out now, can we?"

"Right, of course." Eruruu said.

At that moment, Hakuoro caught a glimpse of something moving Behind Eruruu, and saw that it was the same young girl that was spying on him before. Like the last time, she quickly disappeared behind the cloth once she knew she was seen. This time, however, she re-appeared as she pulled the cloth once more.

"Otou-san?"

Eruruu, who had turned around to see what Hakuoro was looking at, frowned when she saw the girl. "Ho, come on, Aruruu!" She said, "You have to introduce yourself properly!"

Aruruu didn't move a muscle, and simply kept staring.

"Well," Eruruu said, turning back towards Hakuoro, "This is my little sister, Aruruu."

Hakuoro smiled at the girl, "Hey there." He said.

Aruruu's response was a quickly said "Wrong, not Otou-san.", and she disappeared once more behind the cloth.

"It seems there's been some sort of a misunderstanding." Hakuoro said.

"I think she was surprised when she you wearing our father's clothes." Eruruu said, "Even I saw a resemblance. "

"Now that you mention it, I have not seen him yet." Hakuoro said.

"Our father passed away some time ago." Eruruu said, "He was also called Hakuoro. Our mother died, too, shortly after giving birth to Aruruu."

"Is that so?"Hakuoro said, "I'm sorry. But if that's the case, is it really okay if I borrow something like these clothes from you?"

"It's alright," Eruruu said, "Don't worry about it. Our parents' death happened long ago, when we were little, so we're okay."

From behind the partition wall, small, quick footsteps likely belonging to Aruruu were then heard, followed by the voice of a man.

"Whoa, watch it there, little one." It said, "I've got enough broken bones as it is!"

It wasn't long before the owner appeared, and he stopped dead in his tracks as soon as he set his burgundy eyes on Hakuoro, whom took the new comer's appearance in.

The man, who looked to be in his mid twenties, was slightly taller than Hakuoro, and similarly built. He had long dark brown hair that was kept into a thick ponytail tied just bellow his nape with a white string, and which reached a little bellow his tail-bone , where the tip was tied, again with a white string. His face was framed on both sides by hair that almost reached his shoulders, and his bangs between this were cut irregularly, with a long, thick bunch of hair falling across the middle of his face and resting on the side of his nose. He had a medium length goatee decorating his chin, with the rest of his lower face covered in long stubbles. His ears, which protruded from under his tied hair, were a dark orange with white tips, as was his long tail. The left ear was pierce in the front by tree gold rings. All he was wearing was a long brown robe which reached bellow his knee and was tied at the waist by a red sash, and a single sandal.

The man had obviously been injured quite seriously recently, as a thick bandage was wrapped around the top of his head with a compress on the left side, his left arm was in a sling, and his right leg was in a large splint and wrapped up in bandages, for which he had a large wooden crutch under his right armpit.

"Good morning, Tatsuo-san." Eruruu said to the man, "Did Aruruu bump into you? I apologize, she doesn't pay any attention."

Tatsuo shrugged, or at least tried to. "I'm fine, so it's okay. She's not big enough to cause real damage yet."

"I see." Eruruu said, "Tatsuo-san, this is… Hakuoro, the other man we have been treating, and who regained consciousness last night. Hakuoro-san, this is Tatsuo-san. He was brought to us a week ago."

"Pleasure to meet you, Tatsuo-san." Hakuoro said, bowing slightly.

Tatsuo returned the bow as best he could, "Same here," he said, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got urgent business to take care of in the latrines."

"That so?" Tuskuru said as he passed them by, "Try to not get stuck this time."

Tatsuo sweat-dropped "Yeah, I'll be extra careful," He said as he limped away, "Feel free to send a rescue party if I'm not back in an hour, tough."

"Should we get going too?" Eruruu asked after Tatsuo had gone.

"R-right." Hakuoro nodded.

* * *

With Hakuoro supporting himself mostly with an arm around Eruruu's shoulders, the pair walked out of the hut. They began with a tour of the village, which didn't take very long. The village, Yamayura, was composed of about two dozen huts with thatched roofs, the biggest one being the one Tuskuruu and her granddaughters resided in. Hakuoro had learned that the elderly healer was also the village's elder.

A wooden palisade surrounded the village, and it had three gate, one opening on a path towards the village's fields, another one on a path towards the forest, and the largest one on a path towards the hills and which led beyond that to the castle where the province's lord resided.

After the tour of the village, during which a few of the villagers going about their business greeted them, they headed towards the fields. On their way out of the village, they crossed paths with a young girl carrying a rather large pottery jug and who stopped and bowed slightly towards them. They also stopped.

"Good morning, Eruruu-san." The girl said in a soft, quiet voice.

"Good morning to you too, Naomi-san," Eruruu responded.

Naomi stared for a moment at Hakuoro, then spoke again "I do not wish to be rude, but is he the man you… found in the forest?"

Eruruu nodded, "Yes," She said, "His name is Hakuoro. Hakuoro-san, this is Naomi-san, she's the younger sister of Tatsuo-san. "

Hakuoro took in the appearance of the young girl. She had a lithe frame, and was a few inches taller than Eruruu, but looked about the same age. She had long auburn hair that was tied into a large, single braid that was slung over her right shoulder and reached her waistline. Like her brother, she had burgundy eyes and dark orange tail and ears with white tips. She was dressed in a forest green long skirt and a long top similar in style to the clothing Eruruu and the other's wore and which was tied with an orange sash.

"Good morning to you, Naomi-san." Hakuoro said with a bow of his head.

"Likewise." The girl said, "My congratulations on your recovery, Hakuoro-san. I'll be on my way." She bowed again, and continued walking into the village.

As they walked along the path between the forest and the village's fields, Hakuoro looked down at Eruruu with concerned eyes.

"I appreciate you lending me your shoulder, but this is only going to tire you out." He said.

"I'll be alright," Eruruu said with a smile he ears twitching, "Country women are strong, after all."

"Is that so?" Hakuoro said with a smile of own, which was gone quickly as he fixated on Eruruu's ears. He hadn't really thoughts about it up to now, being preoccupied with his own condition, but most likely because he had noticed them twitching just now, they had caught his attention. He had no memories, but somehow, he was certain that having big furry ears wasn't supposed to be normal. And not just the ears: they had tails, too! He had begun to think they might be accessories, but with the way they moved… He looked over his shoulder and down to the base of Eruruu's back at her own tail.

Eruruu looked up, "Say, is there something wrong?"

Hakuoro would never know what possessed him to do what he did next: He let the arm he had around Eruruu's shoulders drop, and in one gentle, clean movement, ran his hand over the left side of Eruruu's tail from base to tip.

This caused quite a reaction in Eruruu, who went "Kya!?", with her ears perking up almost vertical, then a second later she let out an "Uwu~" as her whole body seemed to relax and a blissful expression spread across her face. She quickly recovered, however, and pushed off Hakuoro to the side of the road while crying out "No!".

She quickly took on a concerned expression however as she remembered that the man she had just shoved off was the same man that they'd been treating for serious wounds.

"Ah, are you alright!?" She said as she examined Hakuoro who was now sitting in the grass.

"Well," Hakuoro said, "I can see that country women are indeed strong."

Eruruu blushed and looked embarrassed, and then pouted, "W-well, this is what happens when you grab a girl's tail like that.

"So that thing is real?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Eruruu asked, puzzled.

Hakuoro started picking himself up from the ground, but stopped as an unknown hand was offered to him. It belonged to a large, muscular man with brown eyes, hair and moustache. He wore an open, sleeveless green vest with a white fur collar, green cloth forearm covering and green pants. He held against his shoulder an axe with a big head and a short handle.

"Ah, Teoro-san." Eruruu said.

Hakuoro took Teoro's hand, who helped him stand up.

"You're the weird guy we carried over the chief's house, aren't you?" Teoro said.

"Weird?" Said Hakuoro.

Teoro moved closer to him, and looked at Hakuoro's face with a serious appraising look on his own while being separated by only a few inches. After a couple of seconds however, a wide smile appeared on Teoro's face.

"It's true!" Teoro said as he began to slap Hakuoro's back in a very over friendly manner to Eruruu's dismay, "You got a weird mask there, dontcha?"

After being reminded by Eruruu that he shouldn't try to pound her still healing patient into the ground, Teoro looked a bit sheepish.

"Man, I sure am sorry about that!" Teoro apologized, "We don't get many visitors out here other than soldiers fleeing battles, so I got a little carried away."

"You get people fleeing battle here?" Hakuoro asked.

"Every now and then, yeah." Teoro confirmed, "It's because this place is more peaceful than other parts, so we'll see 'em come running once in a while." As he said this, he looked over at the nearby village, "It's just a tiny village with nothing going on really, but we still enjoy our live in our own way. "

"While doing a tour of the village, I noticed there were quite a few houses undergoing repairs."

"Yeah," Teoro said, "there was this huge earthquake the other day."

"Earthquake?"

"Yeah," Teoro nodded, "Aruruu didn't come home right after that, and Eruruu here raised havoc."

"Oh, good grief!" Eruruu said, "Everything turned out okay in the end, so what's the big deal?"

Teoro laughed out loud. "Indeed!" He said, "But it's probably a good thing still that she was so worried, because while it turned out Aruruu was okay, Eruruu found you wounded during the search for her little sister."

"Earthquake…." Hakuoro said as he looked at the nearby forest with a far-away look on his face.

Eruruu looked up at him, "What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing." Hakuoro said as he was snapped back to the here and now.

"Hey, you!" A loud, female cried out.

They all looked in the direction the voice had come from, and saw a woman coming at them on the path from the village with a look on her face that indicated she meant business. She was blonde, had blue eyes and cream colored ears. She was wearing a light green robe with grey trims and tied close with a yellow sash, and she wore a white scarf around her shoulders.

"Kaa-chan!" Teoro exclaimed.

"Slacking off again when you should be on the job!" The woman said as she came right up to Teoro, who flinched at first, then attempted to recover.

"Hey," he said, "I already worked until sunrise*****, didn't I? Isn't that enough?"

That didn't impress the woman, who reached up, grabbed Teoro's left ear and pulled hard.

"Don't you give me that self-centered talk!" she said.

"Yer gonna rip it off!" Teoro said, "I'm sorry!"

"Sopok-neesan..." Eruruu said.

"Huh?" The woman, Sopok, said and turned he head towards Eruruu as if she hadn't noticed she was there.

"Oh!" She said as she let go of Teoro's ear and looked at them, especially Hakuoro, "My, my, you must be one of the strange studmuffins that's been staying at Eruruu's house."

"Good grief, not you too, Sopok-neesan!" Eruruu lamented.

Sopok looked at Eruruu with a smile, "My, this is pretty aggressive for a late bloomer like you, Eruruu."

"Huh?" Went Eruruu, who then followed Sopok's gaze to her left shoulder, where Hakuoro's hand was resting. Realization dawned on her about what Sopok meant, and she became flustered.

"Well," Eruruu said, you see, he's injured, so I… I…"

Sopok laughed, "Well, that's a relief." She said, "I see how it is." She then looked up at Hakuoro, "Well, I don't know if you're a nice guy or not, but please take good care of Eruruu for all of us, all right?"

"So-Sopok-neesan!" Eruruu protested.

As they continued talking, none of them noticed the small figure of Aruruu who was spying on them from behind a tree….

* * *

After saying farewell to Teoro and Sopok, Hakuoro and Eruruu continued their tour of the surroundings, eventually reaching an area or empty, barren looking land.

Hakuoro took the sight in. "This looks like a field… " he said, "well… more like you _tried_ to make a field or something."

"Hun?" Went Eruruu, "How did you know?"

"Most of it is worn away," Hakuoro said, "But you can still see where people have tried to dig. But in this state, it's surely useless."

Eruruu nodded, "Yes." She said, "We tried to many times to cultivate this land to supplement the fields close to the village, but nothing ever worked. No matter how much water we use, nothing ever grows."

Hakuoro kneeled down, and picked up a fistful of dirt. "I see," he said, "This soil would suck up any amount of water."

" _And even if crops did sprout,"_ He thought, _"they'd die soon after."_

"So we just had to give up," Eruruu said, "That's just how it is."

"I see…" Hakuoro said, and he looked once more around the barren field. _"Looking at these grooves,"_ he thought, _"They really did try their best. But, maybe something can be done about this."_

"Well," Eruruu said, "Shall we start our walk home?"

"Sure." Hakuoro said, nodding. As they left, he gave the empty fields one last glance, " _It's not like repaying their kindness_ ," he thought, _"but maybe I'll try it out…"_

* * *

"Easy, now..." Eruruu said in a slightly strained voice as she recovered from nearly tripping. They were making their way back towards the village, but Eruruu was really starting to look winded.

"Are you okay, Eruruu?" Hakuoro asked, "You look tired."

"No, I'm just fine!" Said Eruruu, managing to sound cheerful but out of breath at the same time.

"Shall we take a break in the shade under that tree over there?" Hakuoro proposed.

"No need... I'm really…. fine!" Eruruu said, but she really didn't sound convincing.

"No, sorry, it's me." Hakuoro said, "I'm a little tired."

"Eh?" Eruruu said, flustered, "Oh, s-sorry, I…" She looked down for a moment, trying to beat back her embarrassment, then looked back up at him with a smile once she succeeded, "So, shall we rest in that tree?" She said.

"Whew, thanks!" Hakuoro said after Eruruu lowered him down next to the tree. He may have been concerned for Eruruu, but he _was_ also really tired.

"No, no need to thank me." Eruruu said as she stood beside him.

Hakuoro looked up, "There's no need to stand, have a seat, Eruruu."

"Ah, yes, of course." Eruruu said, and sat down beside him. "Oh…whew~~~~~!" She let out, which made Hakuoro chuckle.

Eruruu got flustered again, "Ah, it's not like, I'm tired or anything!"

This made Hakuoro chuckle even more, to Eruruu's chagrin.

They sat there for a while , with Hakuoro leaning against the tree's trunk, eyes closed while enjoying the breeze.

"Are you alright?" Eruruu asked after some time, "Do you feel any pain?"

"I'm just a little tired, that's all." Hakuoro assured her.

"Still, maybe it would have been better to go a little easier." Eruruu said, "We shouldn't risk re-opening your wounds."

"I'm the one who wanted to go out." Hakuoro said, looking at Eruruu, "And besides, I'm already starting to feel better."

"Is that so?" Eruruu said, "We'll go back to the house after you've had a little more rest, then."

"All right. " Hekuoro said, closing his eyes again.

A little while later, just as Hakuoro was starting to consider himself rested enough to continue on, they heard a bit of a commotion coming from the village.

Eruruu took on a concerned look, and got up, "You can rest here some more, I'm just going to go check on something, and then I'll be right back." She said.

In the village's center, there were men in red and green military uniforms bustling around, some of them riding Woptars, the others coming in and out of the village's warehouse and carrying crates and bags out of it and into a waiting cart.

The one apparently in charge of the bunch and riding around with a Woptar of his own was a young man with grey hair and green eyes, dressed in brown pants and a brown and green top.

"Listen up!" He said to the growing number of villagers in a smug tone, "We've come to collect your annual tribute to us! What we take will be your contribution to ensure our country's continued safety and stability. I'm sure you must all be delighted."

"Please!" One of the villager spoke up, "You're being unreasonable."

"Silence!" The man said, "You just do exactly as we say!"

Teoro was watching this from the side while standing next to a house, and the man was getting on his nerve, but he knew better to react like he wanted to and speak his mind. He settled on muttering under his breath, "What did Inkara waste all his money on _this_ time?" He leaned against the house and crossed his forearms, "Didn't they came collecting not that long ago too-! Eruruu!?" He said louder, as the girl walked past him quickly towards the assembled crowd.

"Nuwangi!" She said as she walked through the crowd towards the young man, Nuwangi, who focused his attention on her.

"Hey, Eruruu!" He said to her, "I rushed here today so that I could see ya!"

That didn't impress Eruruu one bit, but that fact seemed lost on Nuwangi, who got off his Woptar and continued on.

"Whaddya think? Nice Woptar, isn't he?" He said as he rubbed his stead's neck. "He's a little on the wild side, which is why I'm the only one who can ride-!" Nuwangi was cut off by his Woptar demonstrating just how "wild" he was by means of chomping down on his master's hand. Hard.

Nuwangi managed to pry his hand out, and proceeded to give his Woptar a piece of his mind with everybody looking on, "Son of a bitch! How dare you bit your master!" He gave the large lizard a kick on its left leg, to which the Woptar responded by lowering his head and growling loudly in Nuwangi's ear. The action managed to surprise Nuwangi enough that he jumped back and fell on his backside in the dust.

The scene caused some of the villagers to chuckle, which of course only managed to make Nuwangi even more pissed off.

"Who was that?" He said angrily as he got up, "Who's laughing?"

Predictably, no one came forward, "Tch, snickering to yourselves, typical for a bunch of country hicks!"

"Don't talk like that!" Eruruu said, "You shouldn't speak so poorly of the place where you were born."

"Tch, yeah, I don't want to hear it!"

"You never used to talk like that, before." Eruruu said, looking genuinely saddened.

"That was then and this is now." Nuwangi stated.

"Nuwangi…"

One of the soldiers came up behind Nuwangi, "Nuwangi-sama." He said. When Nuwangi didn't respond, the soldier repeated himself with a little more insistence, "Nuwangi-sama!"

Nuwangi turned around, "I heard you the fist time, damn it!"

"We have finished collecting the goods." The soldier reported.

"Fine," Nuwangi said, turning back towards Eruruu and waving off the soldier, "Then go on ahead."

After the soldiers had departed with the laden cart in tow, Eruruu spoke up again.

"Why would you do something as cruel as this?" She said.

"You see, Eruruu, I'm too big a guy to be living out in the boondocks like this." He offered as an explanation for his callousness, then reached and grabbed Eruruu's hand. "C'mon, you're coming with me!" He said, "Didn't I promise you I'd take you with me away from this hole?"

"I don't remember any promise like that!" Eruruu said.

"Even so, what does it matter?" Nuwangi said, "I can treat you to an easy life of luxury!"

"I don't have any need for luxuries, or an easy life, for that matter." Eruruu assured.

"Don't lie to me!" Nuwangi exclaimed, "There ain't a single person in this world who doesn't want that!"

"That's really not what I want!"

"Why? Why not!?" Nuwangi said, starting to sound angry.

"Ow!" Eruruu said, trying to pull herself away, "Let go, that hurts!"

"Can't you see she doesn't want to go?"

Everyone turned to the speaker, who turned out to be Hakuoro, who was walking towards them.

"Who the hell are you, you bastard!?" Nuwangi said.

"Even if I knew the answer to that, I wouldn't tell it to someone who calls a person he just met 'bastard'." Hakuoro said.

"Tch. Never seen you around her before." Nuwangi said, and then pointed at Hakuoro, "You take that mask off right now and tell me who you are, you bastard!"

"I cannot remove this mask," Hakuoro stated calmly, "And I've absolutely no reason to introduce myself to you. "

"What!?" Nuwangi said as he walked up to Hakuoro, "You really don't have any idea who I am, do ya?"

"Couldn't care less." Hakuoro said dryly.

"Tch. This is exactly why hicks are such a pain to deal with." Nuwangi said, mostly to himself, "Then listen up, this is going to be a treat!"

"…"

"I am Nuwangi!" Nuwangi said with great enthusiasm, "I happen to be the son of the king's… younger brother, Lord Sasante, who is the lord of this area!"

Hakuoro blinked, "Huh?"

"So overcome with fear that you can't even talk, huh?" Nuwangi said, and turned around towards Eruruu, "Hey, Eruruu, how long have you been letting this weirdo hang around the village? You gotta run his ass out! I guess I could do that right here and now, while I'm at it."

"Stop it!" Eruruu said, and went to put herself between Nuwangi and Hakuoro. "He's not some weirdo at all!"

"Huh?" Nuwangi said, "What are you getting' so serious for?"

"Because we've been living together, and I know that he's a good person!"

"Ghhh!" went Nuwangi, "Living together!?" He grabbed his head with both hands and let out a cry, "Don't tell me you guys already did _it_!?"

"Huh?" Eruruu blushed, "Don't be ridiculous!"

Nuwangi grabbed her shoulders, "Even when you've already got me!?"

"Oh, is that how it is?" Hakuoro asked.

"No, it's not!" Eruruu assured, "He's only a childhood friend!"

"Only…" Nuwangi said.

 ***Critical hit!***

"Only?" He repeated, "What do you mean, only!? And where the hell did this guy pop out from anyway!?" He added, pointing again with his finger at Hakuoro.

"I found him badly injured in the forest," Eruruu explained, "And I couldn't just leave him there!"

Nuwangi seemed to calm down, "Ah, of course, I should have figured." He said, "I wouldn't want anyone coming between you and me."

"So, have you finished your business here, oh dear Prince?"

"What was that!?" Nuwangi said, "This ain't got nothing to do with you!"

Nuwangi took a large swing at Hakuoro, who in one swift movement moved to stand in front of Eruruu before grabbing Nuwangi's wrist.

"It has plenty to do with me," Hakuoro stated, "As you've heard, this girl pretty much saved my life, and I owe her and her family much."

"Tch." Nuwangi freed his arm, and prepared to try another punch, but stopped in mid swing, as a loud whistle was heard. They all turned toward its source, which was Tatsuo's mouth, with the head in which it resided currently sticking out of the front window of the annex located to the left of the house. His good arm was slung over the window's frame, and his chin was resting on it.

"Can I make two suggestions that His Most Wise Highness would do well to take under consideration?" Tastuo said in an exaggerated, grand tone, "Firstly, if he truly wishes to woe the fair maiden, he would do well to consider that beating up the still injured man whom said maiden has spent many days healing could be seen in an excruciatingly poor light by her."

Nuwangi just stared at Tatsuo with his mouth opened.

"Secondly, His Most Wise Highness would be incredibly gracious if he could acquiesce to lower the volume of his rich and far reaching baritone, as yours truly is attempting to sleep of the remains of a major concussion! That is all!"

Tatsuo's head disappeared behind the curtain, and after a few seconds, Nuwangi finally regained some composure.

"Tch, I don't have time for this." He said, turning around and getting on his Woptar. "I'll be back later!" He said, and as he rode away he added, "And you're better keep you hand off Eruruu, you hear me!?"

After that whole incident, Eruruu and Hakuoro made for the house, where Hakuoro went straight back to bed.

* * *

 **Later that evening….**

Hakuoro, who had gone back to bed once they had reached the village again, was woken up after sundown by delicious smells that made his stomach rumble. He got up and walked over to the main room, where around the fire pit tonight's meal was being laid.

"Ah!" Eruruu, who was laying the the dished with Aruruu and Naomi's help, said, "This evening's food is sure to be a treat!"

"Indeed!" Naomi nodded in agreement.

"Oh," Tatsuo said, looking up from the dancing flames at Hakuoro, "He's up."

The red-eyed man was lying on his right side on a mat, with his head propped up by his right arm. He was in such a position seemingly because he couldn't sit normally owning to his injuries. He had the same clothing as this morning, with the addition of a large black and brown overcoat that hung around his frame like a cloak.

"Ha, Hakuoro-san," Eruruu said, "Please sit down with Tatsuo-san and wait."

"Oh, thank you." Hakuoro nodded.

The three girls set out many delicious looking dishes. The main course was composed of what looked like steamed potatoes, and stew. There was also fried fish, dumplings, green vegetables, pickles, mushrooms, ect. The dishes looked simple, but to Hakuoro, who only had that mororo porridge since that morning, they seemed like gourmet cooking.

As everyone, including Tuskuru, sat down around the fireplace, Aruruu threw her hands up in joy "Yahooo!" She let out.

"Hoho," Her grandmother said, "aren't you energetic."

"Of course!" Eruruu said, "We're celebrating Hakuoro's and Tatsuo's recovery, after all."

"Our recovery?"

"Yeah well, "Tasuo said, "I'm not exactly 100% recovered, but I'm getting there. "

"Your leg at least should be much better in a couple of days." Tuskuru said, "You're lucky that it was only cracked and not completely broken off. You would have been bedridden for months then."

"Would have been just my luck!" Tetsuo said, "Thankfully I'm made of tough stuff. That, and that damn monkey girl couldn't find a higher cliff to drop me off from."

"Monkey-girl?" Hakuoro said.

"Ha," Naomi said, "He's talking about Kino-san, our traveling companion."

"I see." Hakuoro said, "I don't think I've seen her. Is she staying else-where in the village."

"I believe she decided to camp out somewhere in the forest outskirts." Tuskuru said, "I've seen her three days ago, she said something about getting some critters off her back and not wanting to bring undue trouble to the village, but didn't elaborate. She seemed considerate enough."

"Pah!" Tatsuo said, "Stay around her for long enough, and you'll find there's a lot more to her than 'considerate'!"

"Oh, I'm sure." Tuskuruu said, "Putting that aside for now, let us begin, while the food is still warm."

"We thank the Forest God for her continual blessings." Everyone but Hakuoro chanted, "We thank the great god Witsarnemitea."

"Huh?" Hakuoro said, not sure what to do, "Err, I'm…. extremely grateful for all of this…"

"Thanks for the food!"Tuskuru said, followed by the three girls, Tatsuo and finally Hakuoro. After which, they all dug in.

"Hakuoro-san," Eruruu said after a while, offering Hakuoro a plate, "there's plenty of mororo, so you can have as much as you want."

"Oh…"Hakuoro said as he took some of the offered food, "Thank you."

"How is it?" Eruruu asked as Hakuoro ate.

"It's delicious!" Hakuoro assured her.

"Good!" Eruruu exclaimed in a delighted tone.

"Did you make this?" Hakuoro asked.

"Aye!" Eruruu nodded.

As they talked, Aruruu was chomping away at mororos, and was now reaching for yet another one. Eruruu stopped her.

"Aruruu, you've had quite enough!" she said to her younger sister.

"But," Aruruu said," still more."

"You've eaten enough." Eruruu chided, "The rest is for Hakuoro-san and Tatsuo-san."

Aruruu looked a tad sad, "But…just one more?" she tried.

"Absolutely not."

"Half?" Aruruu attempted.

"I said no." Eruruu stonewalled.

Now Aruruu looked positively crestfallen.

"Oh, it wont's bother me." Hakuoro assured.

"I'm pretty much full too," Tatsuo, who was drinking some sake, said, "Naomi already gave me a couple of hers."

"I don't have much of an appetite for heavy foods this late in the day." Naomi explained.

"But," Eruruu turned to Hakuoro, "Because of your injuries, you need to eat!"

"I appreciate your concern, but…" Hakuoro said, looking at Aruruu who had a pleading look in her eyes, "I've also already eaten enough. I'm quite full."

Hakuoro took his last mororo, and offered it to Aruruu, "Here, for you, Aruruu."

The girl went quite, and stared at the offered food for a moment.

"You don't want it?" Hakuoro said.

"….."

"Um…." Eruruu began.

"Hm?" Hakuoro looked at Eruruu. As he did so, Aruruu reached and quickly swiped of the food from Hakuoro's hand and dashed away.

"Wha-?" Hakuoro went, surprised at how fast the girl was.

"Aru-!" Eruruu cried after her sister, then turned back to Hakuoro, "Sorry, that kid…."

"Hohoho, hoho…" Went Tuskuru.

"She's a fast one." Tatsuo commented.

"Um, here, you can have this." Eruruu said, offering her own share of the food to Hakuoro.

"No," Hakuoro said, "That's your share, Eruruu. It's okay."

"But…" Eruruu began, but just as she did, her stomach began to rumble.

"Hum?" want Hakuoro.

Eruruu became flustered.

Hakuoro smiled, "No, I'm really fine. Go ahead and eat, Eruruu."

"Alright…." Eruruu relented.

From the corner of his eye, Hakuoro could see a small figure watching the group from the shadows.

"So, what are you two planning for the future?" Tuskuru asked her two patients.

"I'm not sure," Tatsuo said, "I was thinking of hanging around for a while after I'm fully healed, if that's alright with you. I've grown sort of weary of the life on the road, to tell the truth, so staying put for a little while would do me some good. I can't exactly ply my regular trades here, but there's got to be something I can do."

"Your regular trade?" Hakuoro said, "What's that?"

"What else?" Tatsuo said with a smirk, "I'm the land's greatest spoony bard!, thank you for asking!"

"Errr." Hakuoro sweat-dropped, "Spoony bard?"

"Sorry, old habbit." Tatsuo said, "I'm a travelling musician and story teller. Also a bit of a poet. Naomi's a dancer, and can also sing and do some music herself. The… other member of our little troupe mainly does acrobatics, juggling and fire breathing tricks."

"So travelling entertainers, then?"

"That's about it!" Tetsuo nodded, "Been everywhere except heaven and hell! We even went to the country of Yamato many years ago."

"What about you?" Tuskuru asked Hakuoro, "Like I said, without memories, you have nowhere to go or return to."

"That… makes me happy," Hakuoro said, "but…. Is it really fine for a stranger like me to stay?"

"Yes, yes," Tuskuru assured him, "It is also a burden to you. Not fully healed, you are unable to move about freely."

"Yes, but still…"

"We don't mind." Tuskuru said, "The real one you should be thanking is the Forest God for her provisions. Two or three more people aren't really going to hurt how things work around here."

Hakuoro didn't really know what to answer to that.

"It's also okay okay with you two, isn't it? Eruruu? Aruruu?"

Eruruu nodded, "Yes."

"And you, Aruruu?" She asked her younger granddaughter.

Aruruu was barely seen nodding.

"You're a good girl, Aruruu." Tuskuru said with a smile.

"Thank you." Hakuoro said, bowing his head, "I will not forget your kindness!"

"It's fine." Tuskuru said, "It's natural and right for us to all help each other out, and I believe you understand that, seeing how you aided Eruruu earlier today. In this quaint area, we can't survive if we compete. We all need to help each other out…. Everyone."

"I'll drink to that!" Tatsuo said, raising his cup, before downing it.

"Seeing as I'm the elder of this place,"Tuskuru said, "if you need anything, all you have to do is ask."

* * *

After the meal was finished, they all want to bed. Tatsuo fell asleep rather quickly, the sake no doubt helping, but Hakuoro stayed awake for a little while, thinking as he lay on his back upon his bed.

" _But really, who am I?"_ he mulled over and over,in different forms, until he started yawning.

"No use thinking about it while this tired." Hakuoro said to himself, "For now… I'll just sleep. Tomorrow's another day."

End of chapter 1!

* * *

 ***Kino is written as "free-spirit"**

 ****Tatsuo is written with the symbols for "dragon-man"**

 *****Tatsuo's voice would basically be the voice of Arawn from Tears to Tiara.**

 ****** Naomi is written as "Beauty".**

 *******Honestly, for those of you who have seen this scene in the anime, can anyone tell me if they think Teoro's trying to imply something other than he and Sopok have had sex until sunrise the preceding night?**

 **So, that's it for the first chapter.**

 **If you have anything to say regarding this story, be it critique, suggestions or encouragements, please let me know of it either in a review or a PM. Thank you.**

 **Until next time, peace out!**

 **-Stanislas**


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